A former minister for agriculture and current president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has received kudos for giving a lucid, thought-provoking speech at the inaugural lecture of the new president of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The commendation came from a public analyst and optometrist Dr. Jeremiah Agoh
In a reaction yesterday to Adesina’s recent speech at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Asokoro, Abuja, Dr Agoh described the address as “apt, thought-provoking, truth to power, and straight to the point.”
Agoh in a statement he issued in Abuja, said the views and perspectives expressed by the AfDB boss should not have been delivered at a better period in the nation’s history as it is done now that a new government has been ushered in Nigeria after eight years of Muhammadu Buhari in the saddle.
The expert, who said he had followed the activities of the Buhari administration over the years, thanked Adesina for his “forthrightness and foresight in shaping the African Development Bank to the envy of other international financial institutions.”
Agoh said he was elated over the giant strides Adesina had made at ADB, which today is ranked as the most transparent financial institution in the world.
He described the AfDB president as one of the leading lights the country has produced, stressing that he would always tell the truth to power.
Adesina had told the new president that the “election of a new president in every climate elicits hope.
“Therefore, Nigerians would be looking up to him (president Tinubu) to assure security, peace, and stability.
He added that Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora would expect the new president to heal and unite a fractious nation, and also rise above party lines and forge a compelling force to move the nation forward with inclusiveness, fairness, equity and justice.
